Often hailed as the French moviegoers' most loved film of all time, Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise, 1945) tells a seemingly light-hearted story of four men falling in love with one woman, yet through the superb writing of the poet Jacques Prévert, the film transforms into the epitome of poetic realism, with a multi-layered storyline, wonderfully crafted characters-the most memorable of whom is the courtesan Garance, whose charisma lies not in her physical beauty, but in her vertiginous unknowability, her tantalizing sophistication.
Garance's otherworldliness also hints at another quality of the film: its dreamlike atmostphere. Blurring the lines between the historical past and the present, the theatrical world and the real world, the film dwells in the intermediary realm of fantasy and imagination, thus evokes certain philosophical reflections on love, idealism, the nature of art, and the relationship between art and reality. Yet, like standing in front of Garance, one is spellbound by its beauty, but at the same time knows that one cannot possess it. It has a life of its own, beyond any didactic intentions.
Illustrating the Parisian theatre scene at the height of French romanticism, the film is complete, as James Joyce would say. The incredibly lavish mise-en-scène and costuming, along with its gorgeous cinematography, make it all the more admirable to learn that it was made during WW2, under Nazi scrutiny and difficult conditions of wartime. François Truffaut, the leading nouvelle vague director, once said: "I would give up all my films to have directed Children of Paradise."
10/10
Garance's otherworldliness also hints at another quality of the film: its dreamlike atmostphere. Blurring the lines between the historical past and the present, the theatrical world and the real world, the film dwells in the intermediary realm of fantasy and imagination, thus evokes certain philosophical reflections on love, idealism, the nature of art, and the relationship between art and reality. Yet, like standing in front of Garance, one is spellbound by its beauty, but at the same time knows that one cannot possess it. It has a life of its own, beyond any didactic intentions.
Illustrating the Parisian theatre scene at the height of French romanticism, the film is complete, as James Joyce would say. The incredibly lavish mise-en-scène and costuming, along with its gorgeous cinematography, make it all the more admirable to learn that it was made during WW2, under Nazi scrutiny and difficult conditions of wartime. François Truffaut, the leading nouvelle vague director, once said: "I would give up all my films to have directed Children of Paradise."
10/10